


They're Ours

by alafaye



Series: 2017 December works [84]
Category: Marvel
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-30
Updated: 2017-12-30
Packaged: 2019-02-23 22:17:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 576
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13199697
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alafaye/pseuds/alafaye
Summary: Bucky couldn't stay away tonight; it's the family Christmas.





	They're Ours

**Author's Note:**

> This is day 30 of the December challenge and the prompt 'relatives'.

Tucked away into a corner, the two men were almost unnoticable. Neither were wearing their uniforms; they were dressed casually. And with the shadow from a balcony above them, they were just about hidden. It had been chosen specifically by one, but the other had joined him once hour two had passed. It was quiet here and the first had managed to snag plenty of snacks and a few bottles of soda and water before hiding away. He should have been out in the crowd socializing, but as this was a friends and family only party, no one much minded. If he wanted peace and quiet, they let him. The second appreciated that the first had staked out this little space before someone stole it for games or something.

"Lots of people here," Steve muttered. He was leaning against a pillar, somehow without his shoes, and his tie was undone.

Bucky grinned softly and finished off a bottle of water. "Just how I like it."

Steve hummed and tossed Bucky another bottle. "If you weren't feeling up to this, you could've skipped out."

Bucky was quiet for a long moment. He kept playing solitaire, something to keep his hands busy, but his mind was thinking through something. Steve waited. He always had. If Bucky took his time to choose his words, it was important; it'd always been that way since they had been kids. 

"I keep thinking about the last Christmas before I got drafted," Bucky started quietly. "You remember how sweet it was because finally work was picking up. It wasn't good, but -- "

"It was better than having bone soup again," Steve finished. "Yeah, I remember. It was ham that year, right?"

Bucky nodded. "We visited my parents. Brought them some potatoes and apples. Mom had two pies that year."

"And gave us one as well as left overs." Steve laughed a little. "We ate it that night with a little beer we'd saved. It was supposed to have been for New Year's."

Bucky took a deep breath and looked out at the party. "None of them are related to us. None of them."

Steve raised his eyebrows, looking the same as Bucky was. It was brightly lit out there, far brighter than any of the homes they had been used to and with more food than they ever imagined in one place. And so many people, like a dance hall. 

"All of our relatives are gone," Bucky continued. "Or scattered. I tried to track down any of my sisters' kids, but I got interrupted by something."

Steve has no one. His parents were both only children and Steve had been their only one. There had been grandparents, but they had passed before Steve had been born and none of them had been born in America. It stings sometimes, but other times cheers him. So many people now know their grandparents as lively adults; old age is something for people in their 80s and 90s and childhood illness is slowly being eradicated.

"No relatives except this bunch of schmucks," Bucky said. "We don't share blood, but we do share something like a familiar bond. Yeah, I don't feel like socializing, Steve, but I got to be here. This is our Christmas now with our family."

Steve huffed, almost laughing. "Yeah. Yeah, you know what. It is at that, isn't it? Merry Christmas, Buck."

Bucky smirked and clinked his bottle against Steve's knee. "Merry Christmas, Steve."


End file.
